[RE-wrenches] Canadian Solar / MC4 connectors in a marine environment

[Jason Szumlanski]

Last week we swapped 4 microinverters on a 2010 system in Naples, FL with
Canadian Solar 230's. No issues whatsoever with the connectors. I probably
oversaw installation of around 1,500 CS6P modules with Enphase M190s in the
2010-2012 time-frame and haven't seen any issues. Some installations are
within 200 feet of the Gulf or on canals. M190s were very susceptible to
ground fault issues, so the lack of CS6P issues in particular points to an
isolated incident in your case perhaps. (Hopefully for my sake).


Jason Szumlanski



On Mon, Jun 6, 2016 at 5:28 PM, Kirk Herander <vtsolar at icloud.com> wrote:

> Hello,
>
>
>
> I am debugging a Florida ocean-side 35 kw array using 4 year old Canadian
> Solar panels, which I’ve never had a high opinion of, installed by others.
>
> I’ve discovered several not-so-good problems, such as low insulation
> resistance through the panels, ONLY when raining, early to mid-morning
> condensation, or by using the last resort of spraying the panels with a
> garden house and watching the SMA inverters shut down due to failing their
> self “Riso” (that’s the IRT) test creating a ground fault error.
>
> That aside, what’s just as interesting is that about 8 or 9 of the module
> interconnections were basically oozing the aqua-blue copper tarnish. I’ve
> never seen this in any installation before. Either the MC4s weren’t crimped
> and tightened at the factory well, or the connectors were seated poorly,
> although that doesn’t seem to be the case. BTW, I replaced all these
> dubious MC4 connectors and the ground faults still occur when the panels
> are wet.
>
> The bigger issue is the panel warranty, but is there anything on the
> market which could seal these connections, perhaps a type of “clamshell” to
> provide an extra layer of protection, which is removable if need be?
> There’s always glue-filled heat shrink, but ideally I don’t want anything
> permanent surrounding the connectors.
>
> Has anyone ever seen what I’m describing in a marine environment?
>
>
>
> *Kirk Herander*
>
> *Owner|Principal, VT Solar, LLC *
>
> *Celebrating our 25th Anniversary 1991-2016*
>
> *www.vermontsolarnow.com <http://www.vermontsolarnow.com>*
>
> dba Vermont Solar Engineering
>
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>
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>
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>
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